Nostril expander



Aug. 24 1926. 1,597,331

H. THURSTON Er AL NOSTRIL EXPANDER Filed July 13. 1925 I 0 9 '6 ZNI/E/VTOES Lg d 5511/ .5. .57

Ho warn 777 0/15 fan.

Patented Aug. 24, 1926.

1 7 UNITED ,STAT as nowann 'rnvns'roir, on wm'rns'ro y 1,597,331 PATENT a n, unwvonmnnn 'LOYLD soRUGos, or ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. v

nosrnn. nxrannnnh Application filed Jui is, 1925. Serial No. 43,232.

' contraction of the walls of the nostrils during the operation of breathing, but the devices of this general character which have been offered to the public have not proved commercially successful, owing to the fact that they'were of such design. that they irritated the nose of the user and had a tend ency to make the usernervous by constantly exerting a perceptible pressure on sensitive 7 portions of the nose.

The obect of our invention is to provide a nostril expander that will not only cffectively hold the outer walls of the nostril distended, but which willbc perfectly comfortable to the user, easy toapply and re move and incapable of irritating the portions'of the nose with whichit contacts, or exerting sufficient'pressure on said portions to result in nervousness in the user. a

To this end weha've devised a nostril expander which consists of askeleton-liked:- vice composed'of two members ofsubstantially ellipsoidal shape in general outline joined together by a substantially U-shaped bridge piece whose side portions are connected at their upper ends to intermediate portions of the lower sides of said members. The device is preferably made of some suitable non-corrosive metal, andit can be con structed either from wire, from sheet metal or from cast metal. When the device is arranged in operativeposition in the users nose, the bridge piece of the device straddles j the lower edge portion of the septum ofthe nose without grippingthe same or contaeting with sensitive portions of the septum located inside of the nostrils, and the ellipsoidalshaped members of the device contact with the outer walls of the nostrils andprevent them from flexing inwardly, the convexed front and rear end portions of said members overhanging the portions of the nostril cavities infront of and at the rear end of the nostril openings, and thus effectively retaining thedevice in operative positlon, The device is practically rigid or ,lIlllBXlblB and is so proportioned that when 1t is arranged in operative position, no port ons of same exert sufficient pressure on the nose to eventually result in nervousness in the user, as isapttofocc-ur when anvdelicate portionofa persons nose is constantly sub} Jected to even a slightpressure from a devicewhichtendsto stretch or deform said delicate portion. Moreover, as there are no sharp portions on the device, or portions of relatively small area that bear-constantly on small areas of the nostrils, there is no liability of the device irritating the users nose.

Notwithstanding the fact that the device can be easilyinserted in the nose, thereiis no liability of its accidentally dropping out of the nose. or shifting into an incorrect position,

due tothe factthatthe length of the major axes of the ellipsoidal-shaped members is enough greater than the lengthof the nostril openings to insure the convexecljend portions of said members overhanging the portions of the nostril cavities in front of and at the rear of the nostril openings. Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevational view of a portion of a persons face, with the nose broken away, showing our improved nostril expander arranged in operative position. y l a a Figure 2 is asimilar view, illustrating the first step in the operation of inserting said expander in the users nose.

Figure 3 is a similar view, illustrating the firststep in the operation of removing said expander from the nose. y y y 1 Figure l is a; transverse horizontal sectional view through the nose, taken at a point abovethe expander and looking downwardly on same. y y a Figure 5 is a perspective view of theexpander; and V y t Figure 6 is a perspective view, illustrating a nostril expander of slightly different form and construction from the one shown in Figureti.

In the drawings the. reference character 1 designates the outer walls of the nostrils of a persons nose, 2 designates the septum of the nose, 3 designatesthe nostril openings, 4. designates the portions of the nostril cavities in the tip of the nose that are located in front of the nostril openings, and 5 designates the portions of the nostril cavities that are located at the rear. ends of the nostril openings.

Our improved nostril expander is of'skeleton construction and is composed of two members A of substantially ellipsoidal shape in general outline, and a bridge piece B that connects said members together and holds lthem in spaced relation. The bridge piece B the device is arranged in operative position in the users nose, the curvedtop portlons of the members A will contact with. the side walls l'of the nostrils, as shown in Figure 4, and thus prevent said walls from flexing inwardly, thereby insuring a free circulation of air through the nostrils when the user breathes. The bridge piece B is so proportioned that the side portions of same straddle the septum 201": the nose without liability of gripping the same or contacting with the mucous membrane of the septum, and the members A are soproportioned that'while they effectively hold the side walls of the nostrils distended, they do not exert sufficient outward pressure on same to stretch or deform said side walls to anextent that will result in discomfort or annoyance to the user.

The device is retained in operative position in the users nose by the engagement of the convexed front and rear end portions 3/ and a, respectively, of the members A, with the front and rear portions 4 and 5, respectively, of the nostril cavities, as shown in Figure 1, and as said convexed portions y and 2- are of relatively great area, they have no tendency to irritate the portions of the nostril cavities on which they bear. To arrange the device in operative position the user grasps the bridge piece B between his thumb and one finger and then inserts the convexed front end portions y of the members A upwardly through the nostril. openings, as shown in Figure 2. Thereafter, the device is rocked upwardly and rearwardly so as to cause the front end portions y of the members A'to overhang the front portions 4 of the nostril cavities and cause the convexed rear end portions 2 of said members'A to ride upwardly onto the rear end portions 5 of the nostril cavities, as shown in Figure 1, To remove the device the user simply places the tip of his thumb behind the bridge piece B, as shown in Figure 3, and then pushes forwardly on said bridge piece so as to tilt the front end portions of the members A upwardly and rock the rear end portions of said members downwardly.

in this manner. ,Nor is it essential that the bridge piece B be of the particular shapeshownin' Figure 5. The essential thing is that the members A have no terminal portions whichare liable to produce irritation by bearing continually on restricted areas of the nostril cavities; that said members be so shaped that they will hold the side walls of the nostrils distended without exerting sufficient outward pressure on same to beannoying or uncomfortable to the user and that the bridge piece B be so shaped and connected to the members Athat it does not grip the septum of the nose or contact with delicate portions of the septum located within the nostril cavities and that it be'located at the rear of the convexed front portions of the members A when the device is in use.

In the form of our invention shown in Figure 5 the expander is constructed from a piece of wire bent toform elements of the construction previously described and having its ends joined together so asto produce a nostril expander that is free fromsharp projections or terminal portions that bear against'restricted areas of the nostril cavities. If desired, however, the expander can be constructed from a piece of sheet metal that is cut andshaped in dies so as to produce a device of'the' kind illustrated in Figure 6, which device embodies all of the essential characteristics and desirable features of the deviceshown in Figure 5, except that the bridge piece B of same is provided with substantially V-shaped side portions whose upper ends are joined together by parts of the bottom portions of the substantially ellipsoidal shaped members A of the device.

Having thus described our invention, what ,we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

' 1. A nostril expander, composed of two skeleton-like members provided with convexed front and rear ends which overhang the portions of the nostril cavities in front of and at the rear of thenostril openings. and a bridge piece joined to said members intermediate the front and rear ends of same and proportioned so that it does not pinch or grip the septum of the nose or contact with delicate portions of the septum located in the nostril cavities. i p

2. A nostril expander, composed of two substantially ellipsoidal-shaped members proportioned so that the convexed front and rear ends of same will overhang the portions of the nostril cavities in front of and at the rear of the nostril openings, and a bridge piece joined to the lower sides of said members intermediate the front and rear ends of same and proportioned so that 1 it does not grip the septumof the nose or contact with the mucous membrane of the septum, the top portions of aid members being bowed outwardlytso that they willcontact with the outer walls of the nostrils.

3. A nostril expander, composed of two substantially ellipsoidal-shaped members proportioned so that the convexed front and rear ends of samewill overhang the portions oft-he nostril cavities in front of and at the rear of the nostril openings, and a bridge piece connecting said members together and located at the lower sides of said members intermediate the front and rear ends of same, said bridge piece being proportioned so that it does not grip the sep tum of the nose or contact with the mucous membrane of the septum and the top portions of said members being curved-V np wardly and bowed outwardly intermediate their ends.

4:. A nostril expander, composed of two skeleton-like members, both of which have convened front and rear ends and a portion that is bowed outwardly intermediate said ends, and a substantially U-shaped bridge piece having the upper ends of its side portions connected to said members at points intermediate the front and rear ends of said members. i a

A nostril expander, composed of two skeleton-like members,both of which have without contacting with portions of the septum located inside of the nostril cavities,

HOWARD THURSTON. LOYD SCRUGGS. 

